Concept of marriages and health institutions in social life.

Europe, America, and other rich countries prospered without worrying about the environment (and the People's Republic of China's rapid economic development from the mid-1980s was—and arguably continues to be—yet another example of "grow first, clean up later"). Pretty much everywhere, environmental concerns have played practically no role in the early stages of industrialization and in any event remained weak until at least the 1960s. That said, the costs of waiting for a clean-up are rising and undermine the argument that environmental concerns are for the rich and that the poor cannot afford to go green; in growing recognition of the local and national (but also regional and global) costs of environmental damage, "green growth" plans are being introduced in poor and middle-income countries, however tentatively, and would support the argument that "sustainability as a reflection" is at long last gaining ground in national development practice. (To note, concern for the environment was integrated in the operations of the multilateral development institutions from the 1990s.)

Access to basic amenities as a core issue of sustainability will never change in social life...regardless of how much time has elapsed...

Three are the historical events that in my opinion have spurred an interest in sustainability in the second half of the 20th century. The first one are the photos of the Apollo spaceship in orbit around the Earth in 1968. The second one is the establishment of Earth Day founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson (Wisconsin), as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. The third one is the first oil crisis that affected primarily Europe and North America caused by OPEC and its stopping the distribution/sale of fossil fuels in 1973.

Thanks Everyone. Dear Olivier and Bruno! The twentieth century developments in the concern for sustainability are amplified in its discourse, e.g., Rachel Carson's Silent Spring of 1960s. Can you also provide some primitive examples? Like, from the medieval times or during the realisation of Industrial Revolution few centuries back? Is the concern documented by the people in power?

Dear Saurabh, I am not aware of any earlier example about sustainability prior to the first 20th century events like Carson's book (by the way, Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic of 1949 in his book: A Sand County Almanac) is another tangible message from the environmental literature. From European middle ages I cited in my doctoral dissertation, an article from historian Lynn White Jr of 1967. Its title is: The historical roots of our ecological crisis. Science, 155:1203-1207.

In this paper the author brings about St. Francis of Assisi's Canticle of all creatures (13th century). From the native peoples of North America I remember the famous quote of Chief Seattle about the interconnections within all life (19th century). I am sure if you look into the literature of cultural anthropology, perhaps you may find more examples that precede the 20th century.

The 20th century witnessed a paradigm shift in perceiving nature. The idea of environmental sustainability, including sustainable development and growth, is quite new, emerging in the second half of the 20th century. I am not aware of any similar ideas being driving forces of states' decision making prior to that.

The idea of 'sustainability' also requires foresight in the future, comprehensive planning for the future, an area that former (pre-20th century) way of thinking did not cover as it was more coined along the lines of ecological remedies. Additionally, although I do not challenge examples given here, I believe that decision-makers and overall government administrations anywhere in the world were considering sustainability as part of their agenda until the second half of the 20th century. Rise of the organisations such as UNESCO or IUCN after the WW2 can signify such shift, but then again, they were focused on nature protection and preservation, not on sustainability.

I believe that 'sustainability as an afterthought' is linked together to the general realization that anthropogenic influences really change the environmental quality in possibly irreversible way. This was realized, at least on international scene in 1970's when the Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment was passed as a final document of the UN conference. This conference was called upon as an initiative of a Swedish government, so I suggest you can look for further information about the people behind it, it might prove useful as a starting point in examining the environmental-ideological discourse. Good luck!

Thanks a lot, Bruno, I found White's paper.

Interestingly, White Jr. has discussed the harmony in relation of man and nature, and through the idea of religion (Christianity). In my reading, he blame the religion(s) for distancing man and nature by paraphrasing man as the creature of 'god' and not 'nature', "And, although man's body is made of clay, he is not simply part of nature: he is made in God's image." However, he later proposes St. Francis' alternative view of man and nature and call him as 'a patron saint for ecologists'.

Here is the link to the paper. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/155/3767/1203

Thanks a lot, Tomas!

Yes, with the Vietnam War and Silent Spring (Rachel Carson) as the unfortunate backdrops, Stockholm remains central to the current discourse of sustainability (as an afterthought). Thanks to people like Olof Palme, Maurice Strong, Indira Gandhi, Barry Commoner and so many activists, we witnessed the clear manifestation and emergence of 'environmental-politics' at the global level.

Please feel free to add more examples (primitive, medieval or modern) in this thread.

Perhaps you mean earliest recorded examples.....because we know that settlements perished because of overgrazing or deforestation or mining....and were compelled to move. On the other hand we have several examples of sustainable practices in traditional societies - obviously learned the hard way...People may not have documented their learning experiences but surely included them in their lifestyles.

Dear Saurab,

Lynn White Jr. wrote: "By destroying pagan animism Christianity made it possible to destroy nature in a mood of indifference to the feelings of natural objects." Obviously, St Francis of Assisi stood out from this context more like an exception and White Jr. appreciated his distinctive thinking of humanity intertwined with all other living beings.

This quote of his has inspired me to engage students in very interesting class discussions in my ecology courses, through the years.

Totally agree with your observation, Manjusha Ma'am. People have included their unsustainable reflections into their reformed practices. Perhaps, the 'inclusions' have been very seamless (in a longer timeline). I think their clear acknowledgement (or documentation as an 'afterthought') can offer clues for further models.

Problem with your question is that it assumes that damage is done, and that somehow those communities are chasing sustainability. Neither is done, neither sustainability exist as a practice.

Dear Stefan, Can you please elaborate more with some examples or case-studies? I am trying to argue that at least contemporary discourse on sustainability is an afterthought. You realise only when the damage (or some changes) is done.